Cabinet structure



Feb. 2, 1965 T. R. CLARK ETAL CABINET STRUCTURE Filed Dec. 17, 1962 INVENTOR$ /15 A. :M/P/r Mum/*1 .z CIA/PK United States Patent 3,167,821 CABENET STRUCTURE Thomas R. Clark, Blue Bell, and William J. Clark, Philadelphia, Pa., assignors to Philco Corporation, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 17, 1962, Ser. No. 245,240

2 Claims. (Cl. 20-65) This invention relates to cabinet structure, and more particularly to sealing gaskets for doors of refrigerator cabinets. While of broader applicability, the invention has particular utility in refrigerator cabinet door structure of the type comprising an outer panel having an inturned marginal flange to which is affixed a thermally non-conductive inner door lining member.

In refrigerator door construction it has been the practice to dispose a flanged portion of a sealing gasket between the liner and the outer panel of a door, and then to fasten the liner to the door panel by passing screws sequentially through edge portions of the liner, the flange portion of the gasket, and into threaded engagement with a flange extending along peripheral regions of the door panel. A sealing portion of the gasket overlies the heads of the screws and is disposed and adapted to hide the same.

Problems arise in the foregoing construction because of difierential thermal expansions and contractions between metal door panels and thermally non-conductive liners held thereto by screws, inasmuch as such constructions afford no relief for dilferential movements.

Also, non-metallic liners have been known to swell due to the absorption of moisture over extended periods, with resultant deleterious differential movement as respects the outer panel. A frequent result of such movements is a tendency of the liner to bulge in the regions between the spaced screws. Bulging may also arise due to excessive localized compression by screws of the gasket flange between the liner and the door panel.

Moreover, it is necessary to provide openings in the gasket material through which screws may pass, which condition necessitates, in assembling doors, that holes in the liners be carefully aligned with the holes in the gaskets and in the door panel flanges.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide simple and effective means facilitating the assembly of door liners and gaskets to refrigerator door outer panels.

It is another object of the invention to provide simple and inexpensive means for clamping both liners and gaskets to refrigerator door outer panels whereby to permit relative movements between the door panels and the liners so as not to distort either the liners or the door panels.

Still another object of the invention is to eliminate localized stressing of a door liner by the means attaching same to the door panel.

In achievement of the foregoing objectives the invention contemplates an outer door panel having peripheral, inturned flange portions disposed substantially in a plane, door gasket means including a sealing portion and a bead portion spaced from the sealing portion, a thermally nonconductive door liner having its peripheral portion disposed along the edges of the door panel flange portion and overlying the latter while spaced from said bead portion of the gasket means, and clamping ring means engaging peripheral portions of the door liner and the bead portion of the gasket means, whereby to maintain assembly of the door liner and the sealing gasket to the door panel.

The inventive structure is featured by the fact that the 3,157,8Zl Patented Feb. 2, 1965 ice securing means which holds the door inner liner to the door serves also to secure the sealing gasket through a novel cantilever action resulting from the manner in which the securing means cooperates with the door liner.

The manner in which the foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention may be best achieved will be more clearly understood from a consideration of the following description, taken in light of the accompanying drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective showing of a refrigerator of a kind adapted to have its door equipped with the novel sealing means of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of apparatus of the kind shown in FIGURE 1, the view illustrating the door and cooperating gasket means in their closed position; and

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary perspective showing of the apparatus seen in FIGURE 2 and illustrating additional features thereof.

With more detailed reference to the drawing, a refrigerator cabinet 10 includes an outer shell 11 and a door 12. The door has an outer dished panel 13, preferably of sheet metal, provided with an inturned flange portion 14. The door inner panel or liner 15, preferably of a material of low thermal conductivity such for example as the plastic material known as high impact polystyrene, is aflixed to the flange portion 14 in accordance with the invention and as hereinafter to be described more fully. Sealing means for door 12 comprises a gasket 16 disposed along outer edges of the door, the latter being hingedly mounted to the cabinet in accordance with usual practice.

Cabinet 10 further includes a breaker strip 17 of a material having a low thermal conductivity and extending between an inturned flange portion 21 of outer shell 11 and the conventional cabinet liner means 22. In accordance with usual practice thermal insulation is provided within the cabinet wall and within the door, as indicated by numerals 23 and 24.

Gasket 16 preferably but not necessarily is extruded from known suitable flexible and resilient material, such for example as a polyvinyl chloride plastic, and includes a hollow sealing portion 25 supported upon a generally U-shaped main portion 19 provided with a bead 18 extending along a leg thereof.

Thermally non-conductive door liner 15 has its peripheral portion disposed along inturned peripheral flange 14 of metal door panel 13 and is spaced from bead 18 of the sealing gasket. Bead 18 is disposed in engagement with door flange 14, and a clamping strip 27, preferably of a resilient, non-corrosive metal such as stainless steel, has a flat portion 28 disposed in engagement with peripheral portions of the door liner and a bent portion 29 disposed in overlying receiving engagement with head 18 of sealing gasket 16.

Screws 30 are spaced along clamping strip 27 and extend therethrough into threaded engagement with door flange 14. It is therefore seen that strip 27 is spaced from flange 14 by the door liner and the gasket bead 18, and the screws pass solely through strip 27 without touching either the liner or the bead. Clamping strip 27 forms a substantially closed loop as it extends along the peripheral regions of the generally rectangular door outer panel and liner. The strip conveniently may be formed as a simple sheet metal stamping, either as a single ring extending along the periphery of the door, or in straight lengths abutting one another at mitered end portions thereof in the regions of the corners of the door. In either event, it will be appreciated that clamp ing engagement with the liner and gasket is substantially uniform over extended dimensions thereof, and distor- U non-induced localized forces are substantially eliminated. The other leg 2d of the gasket main portion 19 depends into sealing engagement with the planar surface ofdoor liner 15. 7 Both the liner 15 and thegasket beadiS are, in effect, resiliently clamped by strip 27 dne to the reaction of strip 27 against the. liner and, underlying flange, and the resultant cantileverrlarnpin'g engagement of the strip along its outer bentrim 29 with bead 1S of the flexible and resilient gasket. The clamping of door liner 15 by rip 27. advantageously permits very slight relative sliding movement between same and door flange 14, as well as slight transverse displacements as respects the general" plane of the liner, in which event the strip'or ring 27 as viewed" in FEGURE 2 pivots very slightly about the head of screw 3% also transversely of the plane of the door, against the reactive forces exerted by thebead as it is compressed. Moreover, clamping of bead 1-3 against the door flange combined with engagement of, 20

door liner 15 by -fiat portion 28 of strip 27 achieves a substantially positive vapor seal between the door outer i panel and its liner. Also, clamping of head 18 against door flange M combined with sealing of the bead 26 against cabinet fian e 21 afiords a positive seal between the ambient atmosphere and the interiorof the cabinet.

It will be appreciated that the invention affords simple and effective means for assembling a door liner and V gasket witha door panel, construction and arrangement of the assembly being such that itachieves sealing of the liner to the door panel and permits very small limited relative movements therebetween. It will be further appreciated that while the clamping engagement of the liner will permit very small movements of the liner. due for example to differentialthermal expansions of the plastic liner and the metal door panel, the neteffect. is

a substantially rigid door that holds its shape in the] course ofhandling during assembly and ensuing extended usage.

We claim:

l. Refrigerator cabinet door construction comprising:

said head portion 4i 7 adoor outer panel having asubstantially planar interned flange; a substantially non-resilient door liner having a substantially planar peripheral edge portion overlying said flange incontact therewith and spacedinwardl from the peripheryof the door outer panel; door sealing means of flexible-and resilient material'having ahead portion seating on said .fiange and spaced from the recited peripheral edge portion of said linerja clamping strip disposed in spaced overlying relationship with respect to'said planar flange, said strip. including a pair of spaced edge portions and a portion intermediate said edge portions, at least a part of said'sealing means head portion being interposed between one edge portion of said strip and said flange, said peripheraledge portion of said door liner being interposed betweenjsaid other edge portion of said clamping strip and, said flange, and said intermediate portion of said strip being spaced in its entirety from the confronting flange; and holding means extending from said intermediate portion ofsaid clamping strip into holding engagement with said planar flange and urging said intermediate portion toward said flange, said holding means'in such position being etlective continnonsly to urge said one edge portion of said strip ,pivotally against about said liner edge portion as a fulcrum. V V a,

2. Construction accordingto claim ,1. and characterized in that said holdingmeans comprisesa plurality of screws extending through said intermediateQPOrtiQn of said clamping strip and into threaded engagementwith said flange.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS i 2,339,566 1/44 Gouloo'zef H 20 35 2,663,916 12/53. Millrn'an 20-35 2,799,901 1 7/57 I Jansen 20, 35 3,009,725v 11/61 Koch.

HARRISON Rt MUSELEY, Primary Examiner; 

1. REFRIGERATOR CABINET DOOR CONSTRUCTION COMPRISING: A DOOR OUTER PANEL HAVING A SUBSTANTIALLY PLANAR INTURNED FLANGE; A SUBSTANTIALLY NON-RESILIENT DOOR LINER HAVING A SUBSTANTIALLY PLANAR PERIPHERAL EDGE PORTION OVERLYING SAID FLANGE IN CONTACT THEREWITH SAID SPACED INWARDLY FROM THE PERIPHERY OF THE DOOR OUTER PANEL; DOOR SEALING MEANS OF FLEXIBLE AND RESILIENT MATERIAL HAVING A HEAD PORTION SEATING ON SAID FLANGE AND SPACED FROM THE RECITED PERIPHERAL EDGE PORTION OF SAID INNER; A CLAMPING STRIP DISPOSED IN SPACED OVERLYING RELATIONSHIP WITH RESPECT TO SAID PLANAR FLANGE, SAID STRIP INCLUDING A PAIR OF SPACED EDGE PORTIONS AND A PORTION INTERMEDIATE SAID EDGE PORTIONS, AT LEAST A PART OF SAID SEALING MEANS BEAD PORTION BEING INTERPOSED BETWEEN ONE EDGE PORTION OF SAID STRIP AND SAID FLANGE, SAID PERIPHERAL EDGE PORTION OF SAID DOOR LINER BEING INTERPOSED BETWEEN SAID OTHER EDGE PORTION OF SAID CLAMPING STRIP AND SAID FLANGE, AND SAID INTERMEDIATE PORTION OF SAID STRIP BEING SPACED IN ITS ENTIRELY FROM THE CONFRONTING FLANGE; AND HOLDING MEANS EXTENDING FROM SAID INTERMEDIATE PORTION OF SAID CLAMPING STRIP INTO HOLDING ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID PLANAR FLANGE AND URGING SAID INTERMEDIATE PORTION TOWARD SAID FLANGE, AND HOLDING MEANS IN SUCH POSITION BEING EFFECTIVE CONTINUOUSLY TO URGE SAID ONE EDGE PORTION OF SAID STRIP PIVOTALLY AGAINST SAID HEAD PORTION ABOUT SAID LINER EDGE PORTION AS A FULCRUM. 